Word of the Day:

March 4, 2022

askew

adjective uh-SKYOO

What it Means

Askew means "out of line" or "not straight."

// Sam noticed the picture hanging on the wall was askew so she straightened it.

Askew in Context

"Papers were askew, someone had helped themselves to a snack in the kitchen and the suspect's prints were discovered in the fireplace. Worse yet, the culprit, a squirrel, was still in the house." — CBC News (Canada), 22 Aug. 2020

More example sentences

Did You Know?

Askew was formed simply by attaching the prefix a- (meaning "in [such] a state or condition") to skew. The latter comes from Anglo-French eschiver, meaning "to escape or avoid."

Test Your Vocabulary

What is the meaning of the adjective skewbald, as in a "skewbald horse"?

View the Answer